After a mindblasting show at the 2014 Eindhoven Metal Meeting we managed to have a chat with Clemens Wijers aka Ardek, keyboard player for the imaginative Dutch band Carach Angren.1.Good evening Clemens, welcome on Unholy Black Metal and congratulations for your set, it was something truly rad! Thank you! We had lots of fun as well!2.I was pleasantly surprised that you included in the setlist “There Is No Place Like Home”, the first single off your upcoming album; I had previewed the track online a few days ago and I like the ominous feeling about it. Glad to hear it! That’s exactly the kind of feeling we had in mind to deliver on this new album, of course we have always been into dark and ghostly music, but I think we went deeper within this time. The new album is called “This Is No Fairytale” and is due for release on February 23rd 2015, and basically you can expect more of this kind of songs on the album, I think this time we really went deeper into creating a dense and powerful atmosphere.3.I recall you’ve been working with Peter Tätgren for the mix, right?Exactly, this is the first time we work with him, but Peter made an amazing job and he immediately understood the spirit we were in, the way we wanted the songs to be. He actually did the mixing, for the production we worked by Patrick Damiani in Karlsruhe, as usual. We know Patrick Damiani well and we are very confident in his work, but I’d say Peter Tätgren’s touch gave a different sound to our music, which we liked very much and fitted the kind of concept we had in mind, for a dark and ghastly story, and hope we can meet our fans’ expectations. 4.I’d certainly say so, as the atmosphere delivered by the first single seems quite haunting.Absolutely, the tracks are meant to sound even darker than the Carach Angren you’re used to, and that’s also because of the story we are telling in the new album.5.So once again you conceived a story to be developed throughout the whole album? Can you tell us something about, let’s say, the plot, and the evolution of the sound with respect to Where All the Corpses Sink Forever?As you can gather from the lyrics of the song, this time we went into a different concept. Our previous albums were mainly ghost stories about a phantom ship, about war, stories and legends. This time we createda tale about the dark side of a family household, behind closed doors, with an even more haunting and evil feeling that deals with inner emotions. Of course, there will be a story about it, I can’t tell much obviously because it has to be some surprise, but the song is definitely a good guideline to get into the album. For the sound, we tried to get into a more orchestra-oriented atmosphere, a more orchestral, layered and complete sound, but still catchy. It’s overall darker, but I think the result is cool, and that’s also a kind of sound we’ve been searching for many years. 6.I think Where All the Corpses Sink Forever is one of your more interesting works as concerns your taste for telling ghost stories. It’s all centred on war and its horrors. I was wondering if, in this case, it was all about telling a fantasy story, or if you also got inspiration from all the conflicts that are currently taking place in the real world, not in the political sense, of course.Well, obviously we are not a political band from any point of view. No, I guess it was a work of fictional storytelling again. Of course war is a point where the mankind’s worst nightmares come true, but apart from the idea we tried to leave out the real world and just tell an evocative story. This story Seregor came up with was really beautiful and powerful and we try to enact it as best as we can, in that sense we look onto the reality, but the work is on imagination and the fantasy tale. 7.It is the first time I see you performing live and I was struck by the way Seregor (the band’s frontman, ndr) enacts a whole play when he’s onstage. As I’m quite into theatre, I wondered if any of you has ever done anything concerning dramatic arts. Not really, but it’s true, as you noticed, that Seregor does not restrain himself to just sing a song when he’s onstage. He acts the whole story, going very deep into the lyric, plays all the characters, moves around, makes faces and mimicry. We are a visual band from that point of view, and being the frontman he has the burden of it, it’s not like he’s defiled in the set. But it’s really just something about his own personality and way of being an artist, rather than something he has practiced. 8.Would you say anyway that you are inspired or affected by other forms of art when creating your show?As for me I also create music for short films and I’m into movies. But then, when we do this, a lot of the inspiration actually comes from confronting and discussion about what shall we do with this album and new ideas that we might have, we don’t really have to flee into books or cinema to draw inspiration. Of course, we might have some taste for horror stories and stuff but everything is filtered through our own imagery. 9.Your band name comes from a Tolkien tale, right?There’s a funny story behind it. Seregor had had that name in the closet for years, when he first started a band and then they chose another name, so when we drew together he immediately came out with it. “Carach Angren” means “Iron Claws” in one of the Elvish languages created for the “Lord of the Rings” cycle, it has to do with the borders of the world. Of course, Tolkien is a wonderful author, but not really a source of inspiration to us, it was just that the name sounded well to us!10.You’re just back from a tough U.S. tour, how did you get along with the American crowds?Very well! We had lot of fun, every show was amazing. Of course we love to play in Europe, that’s kind of playing home for us, but there was an equally wild and pleasant feedback with the American crowds, also in Mexico and Costa Rica; they really soldier together, in Europe we tend more to enjoy it; we received lots of presents, gathered new fans we want to stay in touch with.11.Do you use social networks and stuff to keep in touch with your fans?Absolutely, we love staying in touch with them. We are a very visual band, as you noticed, and we like to share photos of the shows, of the places we play in, and we definitely love to meet fans and people who support us.12.I guess your plans for the future involve promotional tours for the new album? Any date in Italy?Certainly so, we will try to tour as much as possible and spread this new story as much as we can! Basically, we want to play everywhere we can, so hopefully we can come to Italy by the next year.13.Great! We wait for you then, good luck for the album release and everything!Thanks again for having us!Interview by Ariannaarianna@unholyblackmetal.com